My experience has been very similar to yours, tho I missed the opportunity of the cheap masternode (relatively speaking) I could afford by about two days. Early on I was basically thinking "Huh, this seems like a cool social experiment. Sure, I can toss a few bucks in and see where this goes." Now about a week or so later, I can see the community really starting to rally and organize. It's fascinating to see something like this while it's happening, and to actually be a part of it, even if just a tiny part!

Thanks for sharing your experience, it's nice to hear about someone else experiencing the same things now and then.